The Giant Ghibli Clock - Nittele Big Clock

For a Ghibli fan heading to Japan, Mitaka is a the natural place to go for a pilgrimage to the Ghibli Museum. However the modern Tokyo district of Shiodome should not be overlooked for something something interesting and entertaining: the Nittele Big Clock (Nippon TV Really Big Clock).

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Designed by anime director Hayao Miyazaki, it looks like something out of Howl's Moving Castle. The installation is 10 meters tall and 18 meters wide, weighing in at 28 tons. It was sculpted by Shachimaru Kunio, who was also responsible for the Robot Solider (from Castle in the Sky) at the Ghibli Museum.

The attention to detail on the clock is amazing. The copper clock springs to life every few hours, playing music and a special clockwork sequence. Clockwork people appear out of doors and get to work with hammering anvils and such.

The clock is located halfway between Shiodome and Shimbashi Stations on the front of the Nippon TV Tower.

It springs to life Monday to Friday: 12:00, 15:00, 18:00, 20:00, while on Saturday and Sunday it also chimes at 10:00, 12:00, 15:00, 18:00, 20:00.

There are many videos of the clock in action during the day on the internet, but we wanted to grab something at night time.

We suggest you get to the clock 4 minutes before the hour as that's roughly when the performance will start.
Source: Otaku News